Egyptian Army Thwarts Rocket Smuggling to Gaza

Armed forces in the Sinai foiled an attempt to smuggle 17 rockets to Gaza.

By Elad Benari

First Publish: 12/25/2012, 6:14 AM

Weapons (illustrative)

Flash90

Armed Forces personnel in North Sinai, in cooperation with local Bedouins, foiled an attempt on Monday to smuggle 17 rockets to Gaza, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.

A military source told the agency that the rockets are a French-made TDI model, caliber 68 mm, range three kilometers ​​and can be used air to land or land to land.

The Armed Forces have been engaged in an ongoing mission to secure the Sinai Peninsula and borders with Gaza and Israel, said MENA.

This is not the first time that attempts to smuggle weapons into Gaza have been foiled. Earlier this month Italian police seized a shipment of weapons intended for Egypt with a final destination of Gaza.

The weapons, which included a rocket launcher, were part of a shipment that was supposed to go on an Egyptian ship which was detained by local authorities. Italian media reported that the information about the weapons came from Israel.

Israel has accused Iran of being behind the smuggling of weapons into Gaza. Most recently the Jewish State was fingered for a mysterious bombing at a military factory in Khartoum, Sudan.

The October 23 strike on the Yarmouk compound led to speculation that Iranian weapons were stored or manufactured at the factory in Khartoum.